I join Mainers who fear for the well-being of ordinary Americans and urge Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King to oppose the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

The people of Maine do not need a Supreme Court justice hand-picked by ideological special interests, who favors corporations over people and who disregards a citizen’s right to privacy.

As the warming of the Gulf of Maine imperils our state’s lobster industry, the threat to our environment would only be exacerbated by rulings from a Justice Kavanaugh. As towns in Maine reel from the impact of the opioid epidemic, access to treatment would be gutted by rulings from a Justice Kavanaugh. And, as women make deeply personal decisions with their doctors in countless exam rooms and ob-gyn offices, their health care options would be stripped away by a Justice Kavanaugh.

As a gay Mainer, I fear personally the rollback of civil rights advanced in recent years, including marriage and nondiscrimination at work. I was ecstatic, in 2012, when Maine showed the nation that we stand for equality in marriage and LGBTQ rights, and in 2015, when the Supreme Court extended those values to the entire nation. I believe all U.S. citizens deserve access to these same rights. A Justice Kavanaugh would put those rights in jeopardy.

Maine is so beautiful this time of year. I urge Sens. Collins and King to meet with Judge Kavanaugh, depart the swamp, and come sit by the water, eat a needham and listen to their constituents, ignoring the flood of special interests bearing down on them. The specter of Donald Trump looms large over Sen. Collins, but the compassionate tradition of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Margaret Chase Smith and other reasonable Mainers should be a sound antidote. May they both vote wisely and reject Judge Kavanaugh.

Peter Nalli

Portland

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